by Sarah Silhan

Created on: April 26, 2008

The constant kicks, pulls, cramps and stabs.
Pains, aches, jolts and jabs.
These are the untold joys of "mommy."

They tell you it's all "sugar and spice."
But feeling this way isn't "everything nice."
The pictures and movies and photos we see
are not really the truth about maternity.
Your ankles get swollen, your fingers get far.
Sometimes you cry at the drop of a hat.

You can't walk the stairs, you're tired by the top.
You catch your breath, but think, "Hey, I can't stop."
There's so much to do before you're prepared.
And no one tells you it's alright to be scared.
There are glares from strangers and looks of dismay.
"She's so young and single," is what they all say.
"I'm sure she's a dropout, she's a load on us all
And when things get tougher, you know who she'll call ...
There's probably no daddy in her life today,
She let one night of passion get in the way
of hopes and dreams and high-income jobs,
of Beamers and Benz's and a life like the snobs.
She'll forever resent this new addition,
Bottles and rattles are her new tradition.

But these unknowing folks who think, "What a shame!"
Don't even know this mother's name!
A soon to be graduate with a full life ahead,
carries this baby for a couple long wed,
who've tried for a decade to conceive for themselves,
but never refused to put their lives on the shelves.
And therefore these sneers and laughs that she hears,
are really just ignorance, nothing to fear.
She'll walk out in public, with her head held high,
"I'm making a family," she'll think with a sigh.
This couple will love him, will give him the best.
And when it's all over, she'll start her own quest.
She'll start her own family, though not yet, not now.
But when she is ready, she'll promise, somehow,
She'll be a mommy and not just a mother,
and she'll live her dream with her perfect "other."
She'll prove these folks wrong, they can't possibly know,
That their sneering and jeering has just helped her grow.

Learn more about this author, Sarah Silhan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.